Two compartment container



April 1943, w. w. CROUCH 2,315,938

I TWO COMPARTMENT CONTAINER I Filed Jan. 22, 1941 12- i .h i I i a 4 WENTWURTH -W. CROUCH INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 6, 1943 Two COMPARTMENT CONTAINER Wentworth W. Crouch, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a. corporation of New Jersey Application January 22, 1941, Serial No. 375,463

1 Claim.

This invention relates to containers and particularly to two compartment containers, each of which may be packed with separate ingredients. One object of my invention is to provide a container construction in which the inner container may be readily removed even though the container may be completely covered by the ingredients in the outer can. Another object of my invention is to provide a means for readily removing the inner container including a pull tab or resilient handle which may be attached to the inner container and which may project above the outer container when the cover or top of the outer container is removed. Still another object of my invention is to provide an inner container with a tab or handle for the purposes set forth above and in addition to so construct said tab or handle that it may be used to facilitate opening the inner container. Other objects will appear from the following specification, the novel features being particularly pointed out in the claim at the end thereof.

Coming now to the drawing in which like reference characters denote like parts throughout:

Fig. 1 is a section through a two-compartment container constructed in accordance with and embodying a preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an inner container equipped with a pull tab or handle constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a combined pull tab and label showing. a modified form of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 but with a somewhat different type of container and Fig. 5 shows a form of tab or handle constructed in accordance with another embodiment of my invention and which may be used to both hold the inner container closed and to provide a tab for pulling the inner container from the outer container.

My invention consists broadly in providing an outer container with at least one wall which may be removable and in providing an inner container with a pull tab which may rest against the wall which may be removed-from the outer container so as to be accessible for use when the cover is removed to facilitate removing the inner'container.

Referring to Fig. 1, the outer container I may be provided with an annular top wall 2, the. top wall having in this instance, a wall adapted to be removed in the form of a cover 3. The shape of this cover may be of any well-known type and preferably includes an upstanding wall 4 having a frictional engagement with the inside edge 5 of the annular member :2. I

The container I also has a bottom wall 6. This container may be substantiallyfilled with any suitable material such as a powder 7 I also provide an inner container '8 which may be of the pill box type having a cover member 9 which may be held to the body of thecontainer by means of a band or paster It). This paster may rest against the cover 9 and the cylindrical walls of the container 8 and is provided with a handle H which may be integrally formed with the paster as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to Fig. 2 the inner container 8 and the cover 9 are shown as beingheld together by the paster [0 which may be wrapped completely around the container and which may have overlapping ends as indicated at l2. If desired, this paster may contain instructions for use of the ingredients placed in the inner-container and it should be noted that the handle .I 1 here shown as integrally formed with the label l2 stands erect and projects away from the container 8. The reason for this is that'the paster 10in this instance is made of a relatively stout paper or equivalent material Whichis comparatively. resilient and when "the paster is wrapped around the cylindrical inner container 8, the pull tab ll takes an arcuate form which tends to hold the pull tab in the position shown in Fig. 2. .It should be noticed that theheight h 'ofitheinner container isless than theinside height H of .the outer container. Consequently, if the innercontainer 8 rests on the bottom wall 6 of the outer container, there would be atspacebetween-thecap Band the removable top wall 3 which may be partially covered or entirely covered by the/ingredient .1 :carried by the outer container.

However, theleng'th -l of the handle it when taken with the height h of'ithe inner container 8 isat least as'great and preferably considerably greater'thanthe height H of @the outercontainer I. Consequently,'the handle II will be folded down as indicated Fig. '1 when the can is closed and when .the removable wall or cover 4 is removed,'the handle I! will project upwardly into a position which'will facilitate the removal ofthe inner container-8. :Not only this-, but' by drawing drown .on the handle. after the inner container is removed, a portion of the joint l3 between the container 8 and cap 9 will be exposed, thus permitting a user to readily remove the cap 9.

In loading the container, the desired ingredients are placed in the inner container 8 after which the cap 9 is placed on the container and the paster I is wrapped around or substantially around the container to prevent the accidental remova1 of the cap 9. With the form of the invention shown in Fig. 2 this automatically positions the pull tab l l in an erect or standing position due to the arcuate shape of the pull tab which it assumes when the paster is pasted around the cylindrical container.

The inner container 8 is then set in the outer container l and the ingredient I is poured into the outer container over the top of the inner container but the pull tab ll remains erect and projects from the powder or other material being loaded mto the 'can I. placed on the container and this causes the handle H to bend down but due to its inherent resiliency, it will always rest against the lower edge of the top wall on the container while the opposite end of the inner container rests on the bottom wall of the outer container. It has been found that the inner'container seldom moves during shipment because the outer container is substantially full and the inner container is held in place. Thus when the cover is removed, the handle is also accessible being above the material packed in the outer container I.

If it is found necessary to obtain an added amount of resilience, it is sometimes desirable to provide a paster and handle as shown in Fig. 4. In this form of my invention the paster and handle comprise two similarly shaped sheets of paper 20 and 2| which may be fastened together. Between these two sheets of paper, I may secure a spring wire 22, this wire being held in place by the two paper laminations. This form of paster may be used in exactly the same manner as the paster H), but since the spring wire always tends to straighten out the handle 23, it is somewhat more desirable than the first form of the invention if the inner container 28 is similar to the showing of Fig. 3 in which the container is of much larger diameter than the inner container 8 but of much less height.

Referring to Fig. 3 the container 23 may also have a cover 29 of the pill box type and the paster 20 may serve to hold the parts 28 and 29 together. The handle 23 is of the form shown in Fig. 4 with a resilient member added to increase the upward thrust of the handle 23 so that it will be very definitely held against the inner wall 33 which forms the top wall of the container which is adapted to be removed in this instance by means of a tool passed through the weakened line 3| encircling the cover. The inner container 28 may rest on the bottom wall 32 of the container 33 and the operation of loading and removing the contents of these two containers is the same as that described for the first embodiment of my invention, except of course that the handle 23 is considerably stronger and more resilient than the handle ll because of its construction and it is strong enough to draw the inner container 28 out to the material 34 which has been loaded into the outer container.

In Fig. I show still another embodiment of my invention in which there is an upstanding wire loop 40 preferably made of spring wire which serves as a handle, the two ends 41 of this wire The cover 4 is then being looped over a small paster 42 which is pressed against the gummed side 43 of a paster 44 which may encircle or partially encircle an inner container. There are several advantages in this type of handle although it is more expensive than the embodiments described above. First, when such a handle is used, there is considerable resilience in the two wires which are looped at the top to form a handle so these press quite firmly against the top of an outer container which may be removed. Second, in pouring material such as powder into the outer container with the inner container in place, the handle 40 being made of a thin wire offers but little resistance and there is no tendency whatever to bend over the handle by the force of the material being poured into the can. Third, since the gummed area 43 adheres to the outer walls of the inner container and since the paster 42 covers a material area of this gummed material throughout a portion of its width, it is a simple matter to open the inner container by pulling the wire handle 48 outwardly, thus causing the wire to cut through the paster along an area which does not adhere to the container so that an edge between the inner container and its cap member is exposed to facilitate opening. a

It will be noticed that from all of the different forms of my invention a means is provided for rendering the inner container accessible through the ingredients which may be loaded into the outer container because there is always a handle of a length which, taken with the height of the inner container, is greater than the depth of the material with which the outer container is loaded. Consequently a handle always projects above the surface of the material and into an accessible position. I prefer to provide the handle of such a length that it will not only rest above the material in the outer container but so that it will also spring outwardly well above the material when the top wall of the outer container is removed.

I claim:

In a two compartment can adapted to contain two ingredients, one in one compartment and the other in a second compartment, the combination with an outer container including a pair of spaced end walls at least one of which is adapted for removal, of an inner container adapted to be positioned in the outer container and to be covered with the ingredients placed therein, a pull tab attached to the inner container and projecting therefrom and of a length to at least contact with one end of the outer container when the inner container rests on the other end of the outer container whereby in filling the outer container with the inner container therein said tab may project through the ingredients poured into the can and whereby said tab may project from said ingredients when said outer container is opened, and means tending to hold said pull tab in an erect position said inner container including a cover to give access to the ingredients contained therein, a band extending around the container to hold the cover thereon and supporting said pull tab whereby said tab may also facilitate opening the cover of the inner container.

WENTWORTH W. CROUCH. 

